Black Friday, the ominous-sounding American retail holiday named originally for the day when retailers broke even (think black ink), is of course on today. Fortunately, for music and sound, there’s no need to get trampled to land some discounts.
Here’s what’s in the CDM inbox – these aren’t paid placements and they’re hardly comprehensive, but some deals I thought were especially nice:
Vinyl lovers everywhere, you may want to check your local store today. Record Store Day’s BACK TO BLACK FRIDAY is on. (I guess they resisted the urge to call it None More Black, Spinal Tap style.)
Audiofile Engineering, the terrific OS X audio developer, has a sale on many of their apps, including the audio editor Triumph.
Twisted Tools, who make some of my favorite creative tools for Reaktor as well as some fascinating samples and the like, have 25% off with code TTblackfriday through the evening of the 2nd of December (11:59 PM California time on Monday).
Native Instruments has a massive sale they’re calling XXL. A whole swath of software is available at 50% off – not everything, but still a lot of choices, including instruments and effects from Komplete, expansions for Maschine, and Traktor Pro 2. Upgrades and crossgrades are also all 50% off, meaning now is a smart time to upgrade. And iOS apps iMaschine and Traktor DJ are also on sale on the App Store. Traktor DJ at US$1.99 is a particular deal; iMaschine is sorely in need of an update but still a fun way of capturing samples for Maschine desktop software and is also at US$1.99.
If you’ve waited to pick up the very-lovely iMini and unique iSEM apps for iOS, they’re US$4.99/€4.49 Friday through Sunday. And they’ve added iOS 7 support with interapp audio, too. Find them on the app store at Arturia’s section, before they revert to ten bucks.
Elektron has 10% off their machines, including Analog Four, Octatrack, Machinedrum UW, and Monomachine.
Wonderful boutique maker Bleep Labs has $5 off.
Serato has a 50% off Black Friday sale, including vinyl and some really pretty swag. (Not the software, though!)
Teenage Engineering have 15% off everything, meaning an OP-1 is €679 instead of 799. The Oplab, a unique hardware platform, is also back on sale and discounted to €237.
Training site macprovideo.com, who cover loads of audio tools, have 50% off HD downloads and 40% off the online library subscription. That includes new training on Logic Pro X, for example.
SSL has their Alpha Channel Analog Channel Strip at US$750, normally $1099, via ProAudioStar through Sunday.
Akai has 27% off their compact LPK25 keyboard and LPD8 pad controller, making them both US$49.99.
Harrison Mixbus, makers of a fine Ardour-based DAW solution, have their XT-EQ on sale for US$19 with code XTEQBF, and XT-MC multi-band compressor for $69 with code XTMCBF.
Applied Acoustics Systems, who make some really great software instruments (Ableton users have special versions of some of them), have 50% off in their webstore until Monday. That could make it a great time to upgrade if you’ve got an older version of their Modeling Collection, for instance.
Turntable Lab has a sale that starts at 10% off US$100 and scales to heavier discounts as you spend more. Also, free shipping to continental USA.
minimalsystem, makers of lots of plug-ins and presets and Ableton goodies and the like, has 50% off absolutely everything this weekend. Coupon code 9786.
With discount code BLK40, The Loop Loft has 40% off their content, plus 75% off bundles on tools like Ableton and Maschine (and MIDI content).
Samplephonics has discount code BLKWKND through Monday for 50% off purchases of £99 or more.
BeatMaker 2, still arguably the best iOS all-in-one groove production app, is on sale for a terrific US$4.99 – 75% off. No reason not to grab that one, iOS users.
US Apple reseller PowerMax – one of the most affordable ways to grab iPads and MacBooks, particularly used – has a big sale on. I’ve bought every recent machine I own from either them or NYC’s Tekserve. Never pay retail, folks…
Finally, for a nice round-up, see Synthtopia, with some 63 deals there now:
Holiday Deals For Electronic Musicians 2013
And Synthtopia picks up on a bunch of deals at Sweetwater:
Black Friday Gear & Software Deals At Sweetwater
Moog Music has steep discounts on their Animoog and Filtatron apps, making now a perfect time to buy – $.99 for Filtatron, $1.99/$4.99 for Animoog on iPhone and iPad, respectively. Highly recommended, and they’ve just done a new sound pack for Animoog. Details on Synthtopia for that, too.
Oh, yes, and one more sale – us.
MeeBlip anode is on sale for US$109.95 / 109,95€ / £94.95 with $/€/£10 shipping to North America, Europe, and the UK ($20 elsewhere). Get one through 3 December with coupon code THANKSGIVING.
Updated: More suggestions, via comments
Black Friday Audio Plugins Sales Overview [Logic Pro Blog]
Deals, deals, deals [rekkerd.org] – loads of plug-ins, software, sounds
£15 for Oli Larkin’s Endless Series V3, 50% off [KVR forum discussion] … this calls for an explanation:
A unique effect based on the Shepard Tone auditory illusion, which generates mind bending risers, infinite scales, psychedelic drones and fascinating sonic textures.
Fascinating. Thanks!
Thanks! 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
My Endless Series Shepard Tone modulation plugin is half price (£15 GBP) until 02/12/13
http://www.olilarkin.co.uk
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=397674
My Endless Series Shepard Tone modulation plugin is half price (£15 GBP) until 02/12/13
http://www.olilarkin.co.uk
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=397674
My Endless Series Shepard Tone modulation plugin is half price (£15 GBP) until 02/12/13
http://www.olilarkin.co.uk
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=397674
More deals at http://rekkerd.org/deals-deals-deals/
Far from complete, but it’s a pretty big list.
More deals at http://rekkerd.org/deals-deals-deals/
Far from complete, but it’s a pretty big list.
More deals at http://rekkerd.org/deals-deals-deals/
Far from complete, but it’s a pretty big list.
More good stuff Peter, Danke. My Black Friday list is here: http://logicblog.info/logic-pro-blog/2013/11/28/black-friday-audio-plugins-sales-overview.html #heyspamfilterhowYOUdoing
More good stuff Peter, Danke. My Black Friday list is here: http://logicblog.info/logic-pro-blog/2013/11/28/black-friday-audio-plugins-sales-overview.html #heyspamfilterhowYOUdoing
More good stuff Peter, Danke. My Black Friday list is here: http://logicblog.info/logic-pro-blog/2013/11/28/black-friday-audio-plugins-sales-overview.html #heyspamfilterhowYOUdoing
Re: Beatmaker2-
Ok, full disclosure here – Nanostudio fanboy. But as regards “no good reason” for iOS users not to buy it… There are a few.
First is that it’s a hellaciously huge install – over half a GB, and that’s before you start creating project files and whatnot (and per the reviews, there might be an issue with the file management system in the current version.
Second is that they ripped off their MIDI editor layout from Nanostudio. Bad devs. No cookie for you.
Third is that the workflow is decidedly wonky.
Even at 75% off, these 3 things add up to a dealkiller for me.
Could you expand on this a bit, I thought beatmaker wa the best beatmachine for sample based music on iOS is this not the case? I have not tried nano studio yet because I heard that for sampling and chopping samples that it was a no go, as someone who sounds familiar with both could you give you opinion?
And I’m only talking sample based beatmaking.
@Peter – trust me, I came close to buying it too. Ultimately the download size was the real dealkiller for me, because my phone is crammed full of apps already… 😉
@Samplist – Sampling and chopping are definitely possible in Nanostudio, and via a few different ways: the Eden synth/sampler has a “divide by” function that will chop a sample into how ever many pieces you specify (up to 64) and the MPC-style TRG drum pads will allow you to load up a sample, cut it however you want, and assign the pieces to one of 16 pads.
You might want to peep the NS forum, especially to see what kind of tracks people are making so you know whether or not the sound is for you:
http://forums.blipinteractive.co.uk/
And FWIW, here are my songs: everything produced in the last 2 years has been almost exclusively on Nanostudio for iPhone:
https://soundcloud.com/viridis_vir
I like nanostudio, too. File size, yes, that’s a big deal. Still could be worth a try for some people at this price.
Re: Beatmaker2-
Ok, full disclosure here – Nanostudio fanboy. But as regards “no good reason” for iOS users not to buy it… There are a few.
First is that it’s a hellaciously huge install – over half a GB, and that’s before you start creating project files and whatnot (and per the reviews, there might be an issue with the file management system in the current version.
Second is that they ripped off their MIDI editor layout from Nanostudio. Bad devs. No cookie for you.
Third is that the workflow is decidedly wonky.
Even at 75% off, these 3 things add up to a dealkiller for me.
Could you expand on this a bit, I thought beatmaker wa the best beatmachine for sample based music on iOS is this not the case? I have not tried nano studio yet because I heard that for sampling and chopping samples that it was a no go, as someone who sounds familiar with both could you give you opinion?
And I’m only talking sample based beatmaking.
@Peter – trust me, I came close to buying it too. Ultimately the download size was the real dealkiller for me, because my phone is crammed full of apps already… 😉
@Samplist – Sampling and chopping are definitely possible in Nanostudio, and via a few different ways: the Eden synth/sampler has a “divide by” function that will chop a sample into how ever many pieces you specify (up to 64) and the MPC-style TRG drum pads will allow you to load up a sample, cut it however you want, and assign the pieces to one of 16 pads.
You might want to peep the NS forum, especially to see what kind of tracks people are making so you know whether or not the sound is for you:
http://forums.blipinteractive.co.uk/
And FWIW, here are my songs: everything produced in the last 2 years has been almost exclusively on Nanostudio for iPhone:
https://soundcloud.com/viridis_vir
I like nanostudio, too. File size, yes, that’s a big deal. Still could be worth a try for some people at this price.
Re: Beatmaker2-
Ok, full disclosure here – Nanostudio fanboy. But as regards “no good reason” for iOS users not to buy it… There are a few.
First is that it’s a hellaciously huge install – over half a GB, and that’s before you start creating project files and whatnot (and per the reviews, there might be an issue with the file management system in the current version.
Second is that they ripped off their MIDI editor layout from Nanostudio. Bad devs. No cookie for you.
Third is that the workflow is decidedly wonky.
Even at 75% off, these 3 things add up to a dealkiller for me.
Could you expand on this a bit, I thought beatmaker wa the best beatmachine for sample based music on iOS is this not the case? I have not tried nano studio yet because I heard that for sampling and chopping samples that it was a no go, as someone who sounds familiar with both could you give you opinion?
And I’m only talking sample based beatmaking.
@Peter – trust me, I came close to buying it too. Ultimately the download size was the real dealkiller for me, because my phone is crammed full of apps already… 😉
@Samplist – Sampling and chopping are definitely possible in Nanostudio, and via a few different ways: the Eden synth/sampler has a “divide by” function that will chop a sample into how ever many pieces you specify (up to 64) and the MPC-style TRG drum pads will allow you to load up a sample, cut it however you want, and assign the pieces to one of 16 pads.
You might want to peep the NS forum, especially to see what kind of tracks people are making so you know whether or not the sound is for you:
http://forums.blipinteractive.co.uk/
And FWIW, here are my songs: everything produced in the last 2 years has been almost exclusively on Nanostudio for iPhone:
https://soundcloud.com/viridis_vir
I like nanostudio, too. File size, yes, that’s a big deal. Still could be worth a try for some people at this price.
“None more black”
Oops. Thanks.
p.s. thanks for the list.
BTW I just picked up iOS Sunrizer 50% off and Impactor 80% off. Might have just been lucky, as they both briefly returned to full price this morning.
“None more black”
Oops. Thanks.
p.s. thanks for the list.
BTW I just picked up iOS Sunrizer 50% off and Impactor 80% off. Might have just been lucky, as they both briefly returned to full price this morning.
“None more black”
Oops. Thanks.
p.s. thanks for the list.
BTW I just picked up iOS Sunrizer 50% off and Impactor 80% off. Might have just been lucky, as they both briefly returned to full price this morning.
Studio One is also 50% off.
Studio One is also 50% off.
Studio One is also 50% off.
50% of resolume too at the moment <3
*off
(including education discounts)
50% of resolume too at the moment <3
*off
(including education discounts)
50% of resolume too at the moment <3
*off
(including education discounts)
Peter, so what do you think of the elektron analogkeys? im suprised you didnt post about it. sorry that this question is irrelevant to the post, i would appreciate your answer.
for anyone who knows, im really wondering is the elektron sequencer really something special? like ableton was to DAWs?
the country i live in has no music shops equiped with this stuff so i rely on the internet to make my gear shopping judgments. thanks!
We should be doing a full hands-on review soon. And I heard from a commenter who was upset to spend the money on another Elektron – I think similar situation to you, couldn’t try it first. So I recognize reviews are really important!
I did post a preview, though – I was the only English-language journo at the launch event.
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/11/elektron-introduces-analog-keys-synth-joystick-step-sequencer-keyboard-live-updates/
But that’s not a review, review soon. I would say it’s a fairly conventional step sequencer, but a good one – so “special” might be a strong word, but if you like hardware sequencing, it’s still fairly nice! Have you used other Elektrons before?
Thats good to hear Peter, I value your opinion highly, so looking forward to it.
No i haven’t used any elektron gear, But AK got me interested.
Peter, so what do you think of the elektron analogkeys? im suprised you didnt post about it. sorry that this question is irrelevant to the post, i would appreciate your answer.
for anyone who knows, im really wondering is the elektron sequencer really something special? like ableton was to DAWs?
the country i live in has no music shops equiped with this stuff so i rely on the internet to make my gear shopping judgments. thanks!
We should be doing a full hands-on review soon. And I heard from a commenter who was upset to spend the money on another Elektron – I think similar situation to you, couldn’t try it first. So I recognize reviews are really important!
I did post a preview, though – I was the only English-language journo at the launch event.
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/11/elektron-introduces-analog-keys-synth-joystick-step-sequencer-keyboard-live-updates/
But that’s not a review, review soon. I would say it’s a fairly conventional step sequencer, but a good one – so “special” might be a strong word, but if you like hardware sequencing, it’s still fairly nice! Have you used other Elektrons before?
Thats good to hear Peter, I value your opinion highly, so looking forward to it.
No i haven’t used any elektron gear, But AK got me interested.
Peter, so what do you think of the elektron analogkeys? im suprised you didnt post about it. sorry that this question is irrelevant to the post, i would appreciate your answer.
for anyone who knows, im really wondering is the elektron sequencer really something special? like ableton was to DAWs?
the country i live in has no music shops equiped with this stuff so i rely on the internet to make my gear shopping judgments. thanks!
We should be doing a full hands-on review soon. And I heard from a commenter who was upset to spend the money on another Elektron – I think similar situation to you, couldn’t try it first. So I recognize reviews are really important!
I did post a preview, though – I was the only English-language journo at the launch event.
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/11/elektron-introduces-analog-keys-synth-joystick-step-sequencer-keyboard-live-updates/
But that’s not a review, review soon. I would say it’s a fairly conventional step sequencer, but a good one – so “special” might be a strong word, but if you like hardware sequencing, it’s still fairly nice! Have you used other Elektrons before?
Thats good to hear Peter, I value your opinion highly, so looking forward to it.
No i haven’t used any elektron gear, But AK got me interested.
Hey! Swift Infinity Here!! I am an unsigned musician looking to
score a record deal soon by broadening the horizons of hiphop. I saw
your site is musically oriented so I figured I would stop by and send
you some links to check me out some time. Shoot me a message to let
me know your thoughts on my music if you have some time. TELL YOUR
FRIENDS!! Thanks I hope to hear from you soon!
@SwiftInfinity1
FaceBook Artist Page>>>http://on.fb.me/1aFp6JB
YouTube Channel>>>http://ow.ly/n6EPh
LIKE ME!! SUBSCRIBE!! DOWNLOAD MY FIRST OFFICIAL MIXTAPE FREE!!!!
LOL!!!
SoundCloud Profile>>>https://soundcloud.com/swift-infinity
ReverbNation Profile>>>http://www.reverbnation.com/swiftinfinity
Wish I’d seen this in time…have been dying to get my hands on an iMini! D’oh!
Wish I’d seen this in time…have been dying to get my hands on an iMini! D’oh!
Wish I’d seen this in time…have been dying to get my hands on an iMini! D’oh!